It promises to be a banner day for the Phillie Phanatic at the Hero Thrill Show fundraiser on September 20, 2025, in South Philly, herothrillshow.org. Photo by Tony Webb.
FunTimes Magazine: ‘Culture & Entertainment’ column, the week of September 15, 2025
“Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul.”
– American novelist Peggy Toney Horton
“September tries its best to have us forget summer,” philosopher Bernard Williams once wrote. Like the autumn leaves fluttering from the trees, September’s cornucopia of events is working hard to put summer behind us. From mural tours to writing summits, here are a few free or low-cost entertaining activities that will ease the changing seasons. Heat the cocoa.
Photo courtesy of easternstate.org.
A Night Of Fright
Friday, September 19 to November 8, 2025. If you’re interested in a real Halloween haunt, Halloween Nights may be the ultimate immersive thrill experience. (Yes, Halloween is indeed around the creepy corner.) Halloween Nights will feature five haunted houses, historic tours, themed bars, live entertainment, and more in the 10-acre Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, which housed scary mobster Al Capone in 1929. Thrill-seekers, check out the new innovative attraction, Dark Tides, an eerie fishing village, where a surprise looms around every turn beneath the surface. Nothing is what it seems. It all will happen in the already spooky prison, and it may scare the living wits out of you! Starting at $49 per ticket; hours vary. Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave., 215-236-3300 or https://easternstate.org/halloween or HalloweenNights.org
Photo by Elliott Curson
Grand Marshal Blackwell Leads Hero Thrill Show
Saturday, September 20, 2025. Former longtime Philadelphia Council member Jannie Blackwell will serve as the grand marshal at the 70th Annual Hero Thrill Show. Blackwell, a Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Commission on African and Caribbean Affairs, will lead a day of fun, tribute, and tradition in South Philadelphia. Enjoy boardwalk-inspired food, fire truck rides, daredevil police motorcycle stunts, K-9 unit dogs in action, fire-rescue exercises 40 feet in the air, and more. The event will kick off with a grand entrance featuring a motorcade of police, fire, and Hero Thrill Show vehicles, along with formal speeches by City of Philadelphia dignitaries. The carnival-style fundraiser supports the college education of children of Philadelphia police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty. Featured will be the Sound of Philadelphia music by DJ legend Bob Pantano, performances and displays of K-9 and bicycle units, the elite Philadelphia Police Motorcycle Highway Patrol Drill Team, mounted police horse, fire engines, crime-fighting equipment by the Police Aviation Unit, Bomb Squad, Counter Terrorism Operations, Marine Unit, and Firearms instructors. Families of the fallen heroes will be on hand. Get tickets online or at the event: $15 for individuals; $35 for families up to five people; noon (kickoff ceremony) to 4:30 p.m. EST. Xfinity Mobile Arena Parking Lot (formerly the Wells Fargo Center), 3601 S. Broad St. (free parking). 215-275-3000 or www.herothrillshow.org
Through Thick & Thin
Through Tuesday, September 23, 2025. Enjoy the riveting Fringe Festival theatrical production of “If Blood Is Thicker Than Water, Then Swim In It, “in which memories stir as brother Warren and sister Rocehlle, bound by loyalty, are faced with the fate of the ashes of their deceased father. As the promotional material explains: “But in the background, decades of unspoken truths, grief, and healing lie in slumber as everyone and everything inches ever so slowly towards a reckoning generations in the making.“ $25 per person; times vary: 12:30 p.m. EST & 7 p.m. EST. Asian Arts Initiative Black Box Theater, 1219 Vine St. Email: info@asianartsinitiative.org, 215-557-0455 or https://phillyfringe.org/events/if-blood-is-thicker-than-water-swim-in-it/
Julius Ervin
Dr. J & Mental-Health Experts Are On The Ball
Tuesday, September 23, 2025. About 25 percent of men seek help related to mental health. The Huddle: A Community Conversation on Men’s Mental Health is designed to improve that figure. Join an engaging stigma-shattering conversation with an impressive lineup of panelists: Sixers’ great and NBA Hall of Famer Julius “Dr. J” Erving; former Eagles’ star Brian Westbrook; Penn Medicine Trauma Recovery Specialist Rodney Babb; Tyrique Glasgow, Founder of Yong Chances Foundation, and Ihsan Hines, Founder & President of My Brother’s Keeper Cares. Free but pre-register; 5:30 p.m. EST to 7:30 p.m. EST. Universal Audenried Charter School/ Auditorium, 3301 Tasker St. https://www.eventbrite.com
If These Walls Could Talk …
Saturdays, September 20 & 27, Sundays, September 21 & 28, 2025. They say that a picture is worth 1,000 words. That definitely refers to murals. Professionally-trained tour guides will help you navigate Philadelphia, America’s public-art mural capital. Experience the Mural Mile Center City Walking Tour firsthand exploring Philadelphia’s stellar mural collection covering over four decades of creativity. Each larger-than-life mural in Center City tells the Philadelphia story such as Untitled by Amy Sherald and Water Gives Life by Philadelphia artists Euhri Jones and David McShane. Pre-register; $28 (adults), $21 (kids ages 12 and under); times vary. Tour begins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), 128 N. Broad St., and ends near 12th & Walnut streets. Email: info@muralarts.org, 215-925-3633 or https://muralarts.org/tours/
Exhibit Extols Value Of Early Childhood Learning
Saturday, September 20, 2025, to Sunday, January 4, 2026. What includes a whimsical forest, a dance studio, and a storytelling game? Well, that’s AlegreMENTE | Happy Brain Celebrating Early Connections. It’s a new interactive bilingual Spanish-English exhibit about early brain development in kids. The exhibit is produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and presented by Cencora. The promotional material explains that the kids can play while the adults learn how daily interactions build social-emotional, language, cognitive, and important motor skills that impact a child for a lifetime. These early skills help form healthy relationships. Admission: $20 each (adults and kids); Mondays & Wednesdays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. EST to 4:30 p.m. EST, & Sundays, 11 a.m. EST to 4:30 p.m. EST. Please Touch Museum, Memorial Hall, 4231 Avenue of the Republic. Email: info@pleasetouchmuseum.org, 215-581-3181 or pleasetouchmuseum.org
Mentor Bessie Ruth Bridges: An Artist for the Generations
Sunday, September 21, 2025. George Bernard Shaw once wrote: “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.” In this case, the ‘he’ is a ‘she.’ Bessie Ruth Bridges has done both, and with proficiency. You are in for a real treat at “Bessie Ruth Bridges: A Celebration of the Artist as Teacher,” a special exhibit of her artwork followed by a discussion. The event will be hosted by NABJ-Philly, a respected local trade organization of media professionals. At the sunny side of 97, Bridges has been an accomplished artist for nearly three-quarters of a century. Celebrate her life and career as an art teacher in the Philadelphia school system and as a talented artist. Coordinated by NABJ Philly treasurer Sherry Howard, Bridges’ generations of students include well-known artists Barkley L. Hendricks and James Brantley, both of whom she inspired to pursue art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in the early 1960s. Free but pre-register; 3 p.m. EST to -5 pm. EST. Paul Robeson House & Museum, 4949-51 Walnut St. Email: nabjphilly@gmail.com, bit.ly/bessiebridgesarttalk
Writing Summit For Book Lovers
Saturday, September 20, 2025. Novelist Alice Walker once wrote: “I think writing really helps you heal yourself. I think if you write long enough, you will be a healthy person. That is, if you write what you need to write, as opposed to what will make money, or what will make fame.” Following her lead, LitCon Author Summit & Awards is all about the meaning of writing, bringing together authors, publishers, literary agents, entrepreneurs, and book lovers for a day of communion through the written word. Engage in lively discussions with accomplished authors, get insight from industry experts, and emerging authors can showcase their work with a diverse audience hosted by the nonprofit LitCon. Hosted by author-educator Dr. Veirdre Jackson, the event will include an awards program and raffle prizes. Free, but pre-register; 11 a.m. EST to 4 p.m. EST. Community College of Philadelphia/ Great Hall, 1700 Spring Garden St. bit.ly/phillylitcon 🤭
